The Ultimate Sacrifice
by CastielIsMyAngel13
Summary: Draco Malfoy. Quite Sad read, interpret ending as you please, there is a trigger warning as it deals with the topic of some darker things, but it is not in detail. There is some bullying. Character Death mentioned


Draco Malfoy was many things, Cunning, Ambitious, Snobby, and typically an asshole in the eyes of most of his peers. But what they did not know was behind that mask, and Snobbish up brining, was a boy who just wanted to make his dad proud. Draco had done everything he could to be in the top rank of students at Hogwarts but it was never enough for his dad. His dad wanted him to be number one, or else he was nothing- if you're not first, you're last, He'd always say. That stupid Hermione Granger had to be top of everything- except potions, making Draco nothing in his father's eyes. That was the main reason he had been so awful to the girl. It was easier to pretend that he was above everyone else when in fact, his father actually noticed them. Draco had always said, "wait until my father hears about this." but it was typically an empty threat, just the name Malfoy had carried the weight and he got what he had wanted.

He had never wanted the dark mark or to follow Voldemort, He only did it because his father said, "You must do it, and you must do whatever the Lord asks of you, do not bring disgrace to the name Malfoy- You have disgraced the name in Hogwarts already."

After taking the mark, Draco realized he'd made a grave mistake but there was nothing he could do. He turned to Snape, his godfather but Snape could do nothing for the boy. When the mudblood Granger had been tortured in the manor, Draco realized he was on the wrong side of the war, and his mistake was never going to be fixable. It was then that he began to inflict pain on himself, he deserved it in his eyes, he had hurt so many people and intended to hurt so many more because he was a death eater.

As the war progressed, Draco had stopped turning up to dinner with the rest of his house. He'd be seen at breakfast but that was it. The young man also spent long hours in the library studying, as well as many hours on the quidditch field, trying to be good enough. He pushed himself to the limit of what his body could take daily, and over time it showed. He was thinner than before, more tired and very pale. Snape, was worried in a sense, but did not know how to go about things, he did not want to push Draco away.

Hermione hadn't realized it but when Luna pointed it out, she realized how right Luna was. Draco Malfoy had not bothered her in nearly two years. He had barely even looked her way, and when he did, his look was very absent, almost as if he did not see her. Luna also pointed out how he didn't look the same as the last time they remembered him looking. He was taller, thinner, his hair fell to his face, not slicked up. He had matured it seemed, though something still seemed off.

"Harry, I know we have been busy with things, but Luna pointed it out, when was the last time Draco harassed us and made fun of me, or picked a fight with us?" Hermione had asked Harry and Ron while in the common Room.

"quite a long time, why?" Harry asked.

"I found it odd, a boy who harassed me on the daily, calling me names, doesn't anymore, and when he looks at me, he isn't looking at me, its as if he isn't even there."

"odd. perhaps its a new kind of mind game. Like get you to care before the mocks you publicly for showing him of all people kindness."

"Give him the benefit of the doubt Harry. Maybe he's going through something." Hermione reasoned.

"Yeah like withdrawal from Daddy not giving him all he ever wanted because He is a failure of a wizard and a man. Its pathetic Hermione. How can you feel pity for him? not when he's treated you so horribly. It'd be quite the shame if he got in the way during a battle. The world would be so much better off with one less prat around, especially if he is a death eater." Ron cut in.

Little to the golden Trio's knowledge, Draco heard them. He'd been walking by- okay sneaking by but he was on his way to go see Snape when he had heard all that Ron had said. It him rather hard and rather continue on to see his god father, he silently stormed off to the astronomy tower.

Draco stood there, replaying his failure, of not being able to kill Dumbledore over and over in his head. He was a failure at many things. His father never loved him, his mother, he thought she loved him but she too wasn't very open with her feelings towards her only son. Draco hadn't ever really felt loved and in that moment, he realized he never would. No one would ever love him because he was a death eater, the son of a cruel man, and the biggest prat around. He was doomed to live a life that was lonely and without many friends. Looking out at the view he sighed, He knew he could change his fate in the matter of a moment. All it took was falling off the tower or going to the fridge and jumping off and he'd be free of his worries forever. Staring out at the setting sun, he watched as it fell below the horizon, and night rose from the depths, the moon shined bright upon his face as he stood there, still as a tideless lake.

Snape knew that when Draco failed to show up, something was off. The young Malfoy knew better than to keep someone waiting, especially someone like Snape. Concern grew within the potions professor. Many deemed him as heartless and cold, but Draco had a spot in his heart. The young boy as a child loved the attention Snape gave him when Snape taught him potions during the summer when he was young. Severus knew that Lucius was a distant kind of man, and very rarely showed any emotion that wasn't acceptable by the dark lord. Love in a sense was a weakness, that's why Lucius was heartless to Draco, the young boy would never survive in the new world after the Dark Lord took over, but deep down, Severus knew that the young boy couldn't live in this world either. He saw as the young boy grew thinner and paler and became the shadow of the young man he once knew.

Draco knew that suicide was the cowards way out, but that was what he was, a coward. Ron's harsh words replayed in his head. No one would ever peg Malfoy as the suicidal type, for he was a Malfoy. He was a prat that "got whatever he wanted because of his father". But Draco was more than a Malfoy, he was Draco, the son of Narcissa Black. While she wasn't the best of moms, she had done a lot for him. She had taught him how to read, and write, and his first spell, before turning him over to Snape to learn more. Draco saw Snape as the Father Lucius was not. Snape, while he different in showing his care for the boy, he showed it at least. Snape couldn't tell if Lucius truly cared that Draco was hurting deeply, and chose to ignore it, or if Lucius was completely oblivious because it was not related to the dark lord.

The later it got, the more Snape began to get worried. While he wasn't usually one to worry, he had a sinking feeling that something was about to happen, and it was going to be nothing good.

Finally something in Draco snapped him back to reality, and he left the tower. He avoided Snape all together and wasted the man's time, and knew he'd be in serious trouble but he couldn't bring himself to care. Perfecting his glamours, he strolled along through the hallway as if he wasn't about to fling himself off the highest elevation Hogwarts had. Getting back to his dorm, he went and laid on his bed. He looked to the bed beside him, it lay empty, the belongings gone. Blaise, one of the few people Draco had ever gotten close to, had gone to the muggle world. Blaise had gotten sick and when no magical potions or medicines could help him, they sent him of into the muggle world hoping that possibly the muggles could figure it out. And after awhile they did. Blaise had cancer, and that was something Magical couldn't fix. Everything possible had been tried. Blaise had undergone many spells and charms but he remained Ill. In the muggle world, he was given chemo therapy. For the first few months it worked, the cancer began to be destroyed, and while the side affects where bad, they thought Blaise would make a full recovery.

Draco didn't want to admit it but muggle medicine had cured Blaise. He'd also gone and visited Blaise a few times in the hospital- he could not abandon his only friend in his time of need. Draco suppressed everything he felt and held his glamours up so that Blaise wouldn't know how bad Draco was truly hurting. Draco was beyond terrified to lose Blaise, and he eventually did tell the other boy that he was his best friend, and they were practically brothers- Draco fitting into the Zabini family far better than his fit into the Malfoy family.

So when he got an Owl from Blaise's mom, Draco feared the worst, and when it was confirmed, he began to sob. He locked himself in the room and wouldn't allow anyone else in even though it was Curfew. He put a silencing charm up so that no one would hear him sob. His breathing was jagged and choked, he had lost his best friend, the only person who ever cared about him and Knew Draco for Draco. By morning he knew the rest of Hogwarts would know, and that killed him further. Talking a calming draught, he calmed down before taking several sleep potions and releasing the charm on the door. Crawling under the covers of his bed, he hid as he soon fell asleep.

Draco found getting up the following morning very difficult, so he didn't. He remained in bed until he was dragged out by Pansy who demanded he go to potions because she didn't want to be paired up with a Longbottom again. Luckily Draco was quick to put his glamours up before she noticed how shitty he looked. She also had yet to know about Blaise, as the announcement would probably come at Dinner, when everyone was there.

Facing Snape was something the youngest Malfoy was not looking forward to doing. As he walked into the classroom, he kept his head down and didn't make eye contact with anyone. Choosing a seat, he sat behind Hermione and Potter, right where Blaise used to sit- where he would never again sit. The thought hit Draco hard and he struggled to keep it all together. When Snape walked into the room, he immediately assigned work and made the class start.

"Malfoy, a word outside, now." Snape said in his usual tone.

Malfoy got up but said nothing as he walked outside of the room. Snape waited until they were outside the room before he said," Draco drop the glamours."

"No sir."

"why nor?"

"I don't want to."

"I don't care what you want."

"NO ONE EVER CARES." Draco huffed rather loudly.

Snape sighed, "You missed our meeting last night, you give me attitude, what am I going to do with you Draco?

"nothing. just let me be. I'll be good i swear…just don't tell Lucius- I mean father."

Snape went to pat Draco on the back and Draco nearly jumped out of his robes. In that moment, he knew Draco had not had the easiest of home lives, as he knew the man Lucius could be at times, and the thought of Draco getting that side of him, was angering.

"return to your work, Miss parkinson needs all the help she can get." Snape said cooly.

As Draco went back in, Ron muttered just loud enough for Draco to hear, "no one cares is certain. surely if they did they would have told you. but wait, no one ever has."

That was a low blow, and after that point on, Draco was just barely any help to Pansy. He'd shut down more. By the end of class, he wanted nothing more than to die. So as the cleaned, he swiped some ingredients into his robe and made off to his room where he then brewed a powerful potion. It would slowly kill him from the inside. He wanted the pain- he deserved it. So when Dinner came, and everyone made their way to the great Hall, Draco made his way to the astronomy tower. He'd already sent out his owl with his apologies to Snape and his mother, as well as the granger girl, he felt as if he needed to apologize for making her life a living hell as a young child. Draco made sure that the owls would get to their destinations after he had drunken the potion and was dying, he did not want anyone to stop him.

Once the potion had been drank, he watched the sunset one last time as the potion began to take affect. Slowly his organs began to shut down, starting with his kidneys. It was painful, and much like what Blaise would have gone through. After that was organs like his liver, and his heart rate began to drop. Falling to the floor, he lay on his stomach as he felt his heart slow and his body grow numb and cold. By this point, the letters would be sent out, and by the time anyone found him, his heart would be done beating, and he would be dead.

Hermione sat at the table as she began to put food on her plate. A letter fell into her food and she frowned, she hadn't been expecting anything. As she opened it, she realized it wasn't like a normal letter it read,

"To Hermione, I leave all the potions books I have collected over the years, may it show some effort in fixing the errors of my childhood. She never deserved what I had put her through. She is more than her blood status, and I understand that better now. She was one of the few who treated me like a human, like a person, despite me not deserving it most of the time. I leave her a sufficient sum of galleons so that she can put it towards a higher education, or charity of her picking, and or her wedding one day. She deserves so much more than what was given to her. May a lucky man have her hand in marriage. Had I not been such a prat, and capable of Love, she'd made the perfect wife. But thats for a different reality, one far from this so I leave her my heir to Malfoy manor, when Lucius Malfoy dies, Hermione Granger will receive the manor and may sell it or do as she wishes with it, I am truly sorry for what my Aunt had done.

-Draco Malfoy "

It confused her to no end until she realized it was a suicide note. Ron ripped it from her hands and read it, " He's probably just looking for attention, pay no mind." she shook her head," NO, I Don't think this is for attention." she snarked at him.

Just as she was about to rip Ron a new one, Professor Snape said, "It is with much sorrow we share the information of Slytherin House's own, Blaise Zabini. He died last night from his cancer- a muggle disease that has no cure, and magic could not cure. He leaves behind his family, his friends, and his house, Slytherin. May he be remembered for his intelligence, fine potion making and good friendship, he will be missed dearly." Snape said, sounding almost like not Snape.

The gears in Hermione's mind all clicked together. "Harry do you have the map?" she asked him in a hushed voice. He nodded. "Look for Draco, I'm going to approach Snape." she said giving him no chance to complain as she got up and walked to the teacher's table.

"Professor, may we have a word, its rather serious." She said with a frown.

Snape sighed and said, "what is it Granger?"

"Sir, its Draco. I've received an letter…er…Suicide note signed by him, and he's not at dinner."

Snape's realization happened quickly. he stood abruptly and ran out of the hall. Harry found Draco's location and noticed that his mark was slowly fading from the map- he must be dying. Harry relayed the information to Hermione who told Snape. In an instant, he had apparated, taking Hermione with him.

Snape rolled Draco onto his side and checked for a pulse, it was fading fast. He drew his wand and made Draco throw up everything in his stomach, he had no idea what Draco had taken so there was no idea what could cure him. When Snape realized what Draco took, he cursed. " Damnit boy. You just had to go and do a replacement spell didn't you. Your life for Blaise's. You fool. He's going to be livid at you." Snape told Draco's dying body.

"Can you fix him?" Hermione asked with tears in her eyes.

"if we hurry." was all Snape said.

The End.


End file.
